Making The Best Of It
by badly-knitted
Summary: On a late night Rift retrieval, Ianto and Jack wind up locked inside a bowling alley. Written for a prompt at comment fic.


**Title:** Making The Best Of It

 **Author:** badly-knitted

 **Characters/Pairing:** Jack/Ianto

 **Rating:** PG

 **Word Count:** 1114

 **Summary:** On a late night Rift retrieval, Ianto and Jack wind up locked inside a bowling alley.

 **Spoilers:** Nada.

 **Written For:** prisca1960's comment_fic prompt 'any fandom - any character - locked-in overnight in a bowling center.'

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own Torchwood or any of the characters. Which is sad.

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OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

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"Right, we got what we came for," Jack said, hefting the containment box into his arms. "Get that door open for me, would you? I don't have a free hand."

"Your wish is my command, Sir," Ianto teased, trying the handle. He tried it a second time. "Um, Jack, have you got that lock-opening thingy?"

There was silence for a few heartbeats before Jack spoke. "Not on me, no. Do I want to know why you're asking?"

"Possibly not." Ianto turned and leant against the door. "Funny thing, but it would appear we're locked in."

"What?"

"I said…"

"I heard what you said, but… locked in? How the hell did that happen?"

"The door shut?"

Jack couldn't believe it. "But I wedged something in it so the latch couldn't close!"

Ianto shrugged. "What can I say? It must have fallen out."

"Well, isn't this just perfect?" Jack grumbled, putting the heavy box down and sitting on it. "Now what are we supposed to do?"

"We could call one of the team to come and let us out, I suppose," Ianto suggested. "Have you got your phone?"

"Why does it have to be my phone? Haven't you got yours?"

Ianto actually had the temerity to roll his eyes. "We got woken up at two in the morning, Jack! Pardon me if in the rush to get dressed I didn't pick it up off the nightstand. Anyway, you can talk if you don't have yours either."

"Hah! Mine's on charge in my office, so there!"

"Lot of good it does us when it's there and we're here," Ianto pointed out.

"I could say the same about yours."

They fell silent, glaring at each other, until Ianto conceded defeat with a sigh. "Let's not fight, okay? What's done is done. Looks like we're stuck in here for the rest of the night; might as well make the best of it."

"Any suggestions how?" Jack asked.

Ianto didn't need to see Jack's leer to know what he was thinking, but he wasn't about to go there. Besides, he had a more appropriate idea for what they could do.

"Well, since we're currently trapped in a bowling alley, why don't we bowl?"

"Wouldn't have been my first choice of late night activity, but I guess we could. I seem to recall I did promise you a fun date as soon as the Rift let up enough for us to take a few hours off."

"You did indeed. Several weeks ago, as I recall."

"That long? Well, better late than never, and we even get our pick of lanes." Jack strode towards the polished wood of the bowling lanes, his boots clumping solidly with every step.

"Jack, wait! You have to change into bowling shoes or you'll damage the floors."

Jack clumped to a halt. "Oh. Right. Forgot about that."

"Just stay there." Ianto climbed over the shoe rental counter and found them a pair each in the correct sizes, then scrambled back to join Jack and change footwear. They picked a lane at random, draped their coats over the chairs, and Jack used his wrist strap to start the machinery.

"You can go first," he said magnanimously.

"Don't mind if I do." Ianto threw Jack a look. "And no cheating. I know what you're like."

"As if I'd do something like that!" Jack's air of innocence wouldn't have fooled anyone who'd ever met him, but Ianto let it go, selecting a ball of a comfortable weight and skimming it down the centre of the lane.

"Strike!" He punched the air, jumping up and down.

"Hah! You think you're hot stuff, don't you? Watch this!" Plucking up a ball, Jack waited for the pins to reset, then bowled. He stared in disbelief as nine of the pins fell and one teetered but somehow remained standing. "WHAT? NO! It…" Jack spluttered, spinning to face Ianto and pointing back down the lane. "Did you see that?"

Ianto was laughing. "Yep, I saw. Guess you'd better try again, see if you can get that last one."

"This is so not fair! We only just started playing and I'm already losing!"

"It's just a game, Jack, lighten up. Does it really matter who wins?"

"You wouldn't say that if you were losing."

"Shut up and bowl, Jack."

"Fine. Let battle commence."

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OoOoO

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Two games later and they'd won one each. "Tie breaker, best of three?" Jack asked hopefully.

Ianto shook his head. "I'm done, my arm's about to fall off. How about we call it a night?"

"Sure?"

"Quite sure, thank you. Unlike you I have no overwhelming need to win everything. We'd better put things back the way we found them, and no," he added before Jack could say anything, "you can't take the shoes home with you."

"But I like them! They're surprisingly comfy!"

"Do you really want to stoop to petty thievery for a pair of shoes dozens of people have worn?"

"I suppose not." With a heavy sigh, Jack relinquished the shoes and sat down to put his boots back on. "Now what shall we do?"

"Well, we could go back to the Hub and try to get a couple of hours' sleep before we have to get up again."

"One small problem with that," Jack said. "We're locked in, remember?"

"Not necessarily." Ianto pulled his hand out of his coat pocket, and there was the alien lock pick thingy.

"Wait a minute, do you mean to say you had that all along? We were never really locked in?"

Ianto shrugged. "Like you said, you've been promising me a fun date for weeks, but it was starting to look like I'd be waiting until doomsday, and here we were in a bowling alley, so… It seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up," he smirked.

"Why you sneaky…" Jack threw back his head and laughed. "And you have the nerve to accuse me of cheating!"

"Only because you do. Anyway, technically I didn't cheat, I just withheld certain information."

"Just for that, you can carry the box," Jack said, whisking the alien device out of Ianto's fingers.

"Fine with me." Ianto grasped the front of Jack's coat in both hands and pulled him in for a kiss. "I had fun tonight. Thank you."

"So did I. Maybe we should do this again sometime."

"I'd like that. But next time, maybe we should come during opening hours rather than in the middle of the night." Pulling away, Ianto picked up the box and turned to Jack. "Lead the way, my Captain."

Laughing, Jack strode towards the door, used the lock pick to open it, and they slipped out into the night.

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The End


End file.
